


History Lesson

by Between_A_Dream



Series: The Taglarin Mythic BuffyVerse [3]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 19:59:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7654678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Between_A_Dream/pseuds/Between_A_Dream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tara is having trouble studying for her history test, so to help Willow decides to calm her nerves by teaching her how to play chess. Set around 5x03.</p>
            </blockquote>





	History Lesson

Tara was sitting in her room reading over a history book when she heard the knock.

"Come in," she called out, not bothering to take her eyes off the page she had been re-reading for the past half hour. She saw Willow out of the corner of her eye and offered a small smile.

"Whatcha doing?" the auburn haired witch plopped down beside her on the bed.

"Studying. I have a huge test tomorrow and I need to know this stuff," the blonde responded in a half mumble, her eyes scanning over the same paragraph she had already read four times. She couldn't seem to retain any of the information that she was reading. Willow, sensing how tense her girlfriend was, scooted behind her and ran her hands over the golden haired Wiccan's shoulders.

"Willow I... I can't g-get distracted right now," Tara sighed, leaning forward and away from her lover.

"How long have you been studying?" the red head questioned.

"Few hours," it was the only response she got.

"Well then," Willow started, closing the book and tossing it aside. "I think you're in need of a good distraction," she continued with a smirk.

"Willow I can't. I really need to ace this test," the blonde started to reach for her book but her hand was slapped away.

"I have a much more fun activity in mind," the way that the ginger was staring at her only made Tara's heartbeat increase. She watched with caution as Willow reached behind her back, then stared with confusion as she pulled out a chess board.

"What are you doing?" the blonde couldn't help but let out a quiet giggle.

"It's high time you learned to play the most sophisticated of board games," the red haired witch quipped with a grin as she set the board down on the bed.

"I... I can... I know how to p-play chess," it was a lie and Willow could see right through it, but she laughed and went along with it. Tara actually hadn't been near a chess board in years. Her mother had tried to teach her when she was younger but she just couldn't grasp the concept.

"Fine then. Let's play," the ginger Wiccan grinned and started setting up her board. Her girlfriend watched carefully, but tried to make it look like she knew how to set up her own board. Willow's theory that Tara was lying about knowing how to play was confirmed when she put her white queen on the black square.

"Tara, honey, your queen goes on the same color square that she is," she reached across the board and flipped the king and the queen, watching a light blush spread across the golden haired woman's face.

"Oh yeah, r-right, I just f-forgot," she laughed nervously.

"Tara," her name was the only word that Willow spoke.

"Y-Yeah?" she asked after a moment.

"I know you don't know how to play chess," she watched the auburn haired Wiccan smirk and sighed in defeat. She knew it wasn't a question.

"Ok fine, you're right. I d-don't know how to play," she admitted.

"Sweetie come on, let me teach you then. It's actually supposed to stimulate the mind so when we finish you'll be in full study mode," Willow promised with a soft smile. After a moment Tara nodded and smiled back.

"B-But just one game," she quickly added.

"Your wish is my command," her red haired lover grinned. She quickly set Tara's side of the board up the right way.

"Ok, so first we have this guy called the rook," she held up the piece on the outside that looked like a castle tower. "You have two of these pieces. They can move as many spaces as he wants to, but they can only move in straight lines, so they're not my favorite," both girls giggled at her joke. "So, Mr. Rook can go this way," Willow set the piece in the center of the board and moved him left to right. "Or he can move his way," she finished, moving the rook in a straight line closer to Tara and then back towards herself. The blonde nodded to signal she understood.

"And next we move to the bishop. You'll have two of them as well. They move a lot like the rook, except they go diagonally, but there's still no limit to how many spaces," after a quick demonstration in the center of the board Tara again nodded and started repeating the information in her mind.

"Next we have the knights. They're special because they have to move in a pattern, and they're the only pieces that can jump over others. They move in an L shape," Willow explained and showed Tara a few different ways they moved.

"Ok ok hold on, this is getting confusing," the blonde tried frantically to remember the previous pieces and how they moved. She started clutching her hands together and her knuckles grew white.

"It's just a game sweetie, relax," the ginger reached over and ran her hand across her girlfriend's knee. Tara pulled back a little and looked down. "Hey now, you're more stressed out than I thought," Willow pushed the game board aside.

"I'm sorry it's just... I'm just really worried about this test. I never study well. I always get over worked and I forget everything. And if I fail this test I'll fail the class and... There's just... There's so much going on you know? I mean, I'm turning 20 in a month, for one," the blonde Wiccan sighed.

"But that's something to celebrate isn't it?" Willow took her lover's hand and smiled.

"I guess it's just... Well I don't really like birthday parties and celebrations," she answered, casting her blue eyes to her hands folded neatly in her lap.

"Oh come on, everyone likes parties for themselves! I'll throw you the best birthday ever! But until then, I'm going to teach you how to play chess, no matter how long it takes," the ginger witch's response made Tara smile lightly. "There's that smile I love," Willow grinned and pecked her gently on the lips.

"Come on, let me finish teaching you," she offered, and after a moment the blonde haired Wiccan nodded. They sat like that for two and a half hours, and after learning the logistics of the game, they played five or six games. Every once in awhile, whenever one of them would finish making a move, the ginger witch would ask her lover a question from her history book. Tara answered right every time.

"Well, Miss Maclay, I must admit that you are a worthy opponent," Willow teased her and leaned across the bed, kissing her lightly on the lips. Tara blushed and sighed happily as she leaned against her girlfriend, curling up in her arms. As the two women leaned back, she picked up her book and started reading carefully over the page. She only managed to get past a few pages before falling asleep, and when Willow could hear the soft, steady rhythm of her breathing she closed the book and set the chess board on the dresser. The motion was enough to wake Tara from her light sleep, and she slowly blinked her blue eyes open.

"Awe I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," the auburn haired woman apologized. Her girlfriend shook her head and held out her hand.

"Stay?" she asked quietly, not having enough energy to form any more of a sentence. With a smile, Willow rapidly crawled into bed beside her blonde lover and pulled her into a tight embrace. She reached over and turned off the small dim lamp that provided the room with it's only illumination. Tara was asleep before her head hit the pillow, and Willow quickly followed suit, her eyes growing heavy and her mind drifting into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

By the time Tara's history class came along, she felt surprisingly confident about her test. She remembered almost every question Willow had asked her, which happened to be over half the questions on the test. She finished early and with surprising reassurance that she had done well. Though she was the first one done, she reread over all her answers so many times that the bell to signal the end of class went off before she walked up to the teacher and handed in her paper. As she walked out of the class, Willow was at the door waiting to greet her.

"How did you do?" she asked eagerly. Tara chuckled.

"I don't know yet, it actually kind of needs to be graded first," she giggled.

"Oh, yeah, right. Well I'm positive you did well," the red head laughed and kissed her cheek. And it was true. When Tara walked into her history class the next day, and her teacher walked around handing out papers, she got her's back with a bright red A+ scribbled in the top corner.


End file.
